Songs for Saving

This was written for and published by Asia Democracy Chronicles. Photo credit: Greenhood Nepal

After enjoying a drastic drop in poaching for a few years, Nepal is again struggling to limit, if not stop, the killing of particular wildlife, especially animals that have been declared vulnerable or endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). 

And for at least one nongovernment organization focused on conservation, this has meant turning in part to melodic measures to help spread its message among Nepalis.

Nestled in the Himalayas, the South Asian country is both a transition point and source in the illegal wildlife trade. Since 2019, the NGO Greenhood Nepal has used music as its weapon in the war against poaching: raising awareness about conservation and the consequences of wildlife crime. Their main target: communities near nature reserves and national parks.

Late last year, Greenhood released a music video with the active participation of the Bote community within Chitwan District in the southwestern Bagmati province. 

The video for “Ekai Dagar (Our Same Path),” sung by the popular Nepali singer Bhupu Pandey in the Bote language, talks of how a man traps and takes home a pangolin, only to learn about the consequences of his action once he returns to the village. 

The song emphasizes the symbiotic relationship between man and nature – or in this case, the pangolin.

Nepal is home to two species of the scaly mammal, which the Bote refer to as “forest fish”: the Chinese pangolin and the Indian pangolin, classified as “critically endangered” and “endangered,” respectively, in the IUCN Red List. Anecdotal reports from the field indicate that the pangolin, along with the one-horned rhino, is the current favorite target of poachers in Nepal. Parts of the nocturnal ant and termite eater, including its scales, are used in traditional Chinese and Vietnamese medicine, while its meat is considered a delicacy in some Asian cuisines. 

Yet it gets relatively less press than other poacher targets in Nepal such as the tiger and the rhino, leading to less awareness about its dwindling population.

The Bote living in Madi, a village within Chitwan National Park, had even used to consider the pangolin as bushmeat. One of Nepal’s marginalized Indigenous groups, the Bote are primarily fishers by trade.

“Historically, our livelihood is connected with fishing, and some members of our community unknowingly treated pangolins like fish,” said Jagnarayan Bote, a Madi resident who helped create “Ekai Dagar.”  “But through this song, we can convey the actual situation of pangolins and how they are also in danger – just like our community.”

Like the pangolin, the Bote are not as well known as Nepal’s other Indigenous peoples. Their population is also declining, with only a little over 11,000 of them left in Nepal, according to the 2021 census. 

Remarked Jagnarayan: “As our population is decreasing, pangolins are also facing the same problem. And this song talks about that very path and tries to make people aware (of this). It is making a difference in our community.”

Laws and losses

Nepal has strict laws on poaching, and violators may be meted with a maximum fine of NPR 1 million (US$7,489) and jail terms of up to 15 years. In 2014, the South Asian country achieved zero poaching of three species: tigers, rhinos, and elephants. It also chalked up zero poaching of rhinos in 2011, as well as in 2016, 2018, 2019, and 2020. 

According to the Ministry of Forests, this was made possible by the effective collaboration between national-park officials and local communities. But some observers have also noted a hardline, nearly militaristic application of the law particularly on small-time players in the illegal trade.

Nepal’s conservation efforts, however, went awry during the COVID-19 lockdowns. A 2021 study pointed out that during those times, the “reduction in law enforcement and patrolling caused a surge of illegal killing of wildlife and activities disturbing wildlife.” 

The lockdowns meant less people moving around, thereby enabling wildlife to roam more freely, the researchers said, but “the diversion of security personnel gave opportunities to poachers and timber thieves, some of whom may have been urbanites laid off from their jobs.” 

Indications are Nepal has yet to recover from that setback. Authorities even worry that poachers are using new methods such as intentional electrocution to kill their targets, especially rhinos. 

Meanwhile, some observers say that even before the pandemic, the implementation of the anti-poaching rules left much to be desired, and that most of those who end up behind bars for wildlife crimes are the people in the lowest rungs in the illegal trade’s hierarchy.

A study published in December 2019 by the Conservation Science and Practice, for instance, noted that 75 percent of those incarcerated for wildlife crimes were from the Janjanati group of castes, which are largely the marginalized Indigenous peoples of Nepal, such as the Tamang, Chaudhary, and Chepang/Targa castes. 

But while those interviewed by the study’s researchers said that they were poor, they also said that the wildlife trade was not their main source of income. 

Jagnarayan Bote told Asia Democracy Chronicles (ADC): “It is evident that locals, especially Indigenous communities, have historically depended on environmental resources for livelihood, while also playing a role in conserving nature. 

However, outside traffickers exploit locals who are unaware of legal provisions, leading them to end up in prison. We urgently need effective methods to communicate legal concepts to the locals.”

In an interview with ADC, the study’s primary researcher. Kumar Paudel, said, “We found that many prisoners knew wildlife trade was illegal but only a few recognized the scale of the punishments they could face.”

Paudel is Greenhood Nepal’s current head. He said that the study he did with two Lancaster University researchers indicated that people would not be deterred from participating in the illegal trade if they do not see it as a risk.

Roping in the Gandharva

Until Paudel thought of using songs to spread conservation awareness along with information about the anti-poaching laws, there had been no similar program – music-based or otherwise – for the Indigenous communities, especially those near or within nature reserves and protected areas.

“We only conduct official ceremonies and events on special occasions,” said Pragya Khanal, Conservation Education Officer at the Department of National Park and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC),  of the government’s outreach efforts to such communities. “We don’t have ongoing programs for educating locals on wildlife crime and conservation education.”

She acknowledged the need for targeted conservation education programs, but cited lack of resources as a hindrance.

Folk musician and singer Prakash Gandharva, more popularly known as Dilu, said that he was surprised when Paudel approached him in 2018 with a proposal to create musical messages centered on conservation and legal provisions, based on the sarangi. 

A Nepali folk instrument played by bowing, the sarangi is traditionally used by the Gandharva or Gaine caste, who are renowned for their narrative tales set to music. Yet before Paudel put forth his idea to Dilu, the sarangi had never been used to help convey stories of conservation and the country’s laws on wildlife protection.

Paudel said that they chose the traditional music of the Gandharva community for the project because the Gaine are “traveling musicians known throughout Nepal for their tragic ballads.” In the context of the illegal wildlife trade, tragedy befalls not only the hapless animal targets, but also on the poachers, their families, and their community. 

Paudel and Dilu came up with a five-song series called “Ban ko Katha Bolchha Sarangi (Sarangi Tells the Story of the Forest).” Greenwood produced a video for each of the songs, which have since been posted on the NGO’s YouTube channel. Funding for the project came from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

Three of the songs were inspired by real-life events while two were written from the imagined perspective of animals frequently poached.

“Nam Ganayo (Shameful Name)” and “Rapti Tirai Tir (On the Rapti Riverbank)” are told from the viewpoints of two men who had spent time in jail for poaching, as well as narrating the tragedies that befell their respective families while they were in prison. 

“Driver Dai” has a Gandharva musician warning a bus driver against helping transport illegally caught wildlife and of the punishments the law has waiting for those involved.

In “Chituwa ko Chithi (Letter from Leopard),” a leopard mourns the loss of his friend, a red panda, to poachers, while “Hey Barai” is about an unnamed animal searching for her child and finding “only despair.” The song goes on to ask, “How cold humans can be, how can they kill weak ones just to earn some money?”

Music plays on

Greenhood’s notes accompanying the “Ban ko Katha” videos say that the songs have been performed live “in communities where wildlife trade is common.” They have also been played by the Community Information Network that has an audience of 9 million. According to Paudel, they are gearing for another round of live performances in Indigenous communities.

Dr. Maheshwar Dhakal, joint secretary at the Ministry of Forest and Environment, sees great potential in creating a vibrant movement that connects nature and culture through local music, which could contribute to conservation justice. 

“There is no doubt that conservation is not possible without community involvement and fair justice,”said Dhakal, who heads the ministry’s Participatory Forestry Division. “But we have not effectively utilized societal cultural elements, including music and drama, to promote conservation and conservation justice. We have a long way to go.” 

He said, however, that “we can definitely use ‘Ban Ko Katha Bolchha Sarangi’ as an example” of how to do that.

“From our experience, music, especially sarangi songs, has been effective in attracting people and conveying the messages we want them to hear,” Paudel said. “There has been a positive response from the community, indicating that they now have a better understanding. However, we need to conduct follow-up research after some years to make an actual assessment of its effectiveness. What we can say now is that it has been received wholeheartedly by the community.”

Jagnarayan Bote apparently agrees, saying that “Ekai Dagar” has helped his fellow Bote understand and appreciate the importance of pangolins. He added, “Using folk music and narrating the importance of wildlife conservation, along with the consequences of committing crimes, has proven to be effective. People gather in large numbers to listen to songs. This is not the case when someone comes to lecture us.” 

The Bote in Madi are now using “Ekai Dagar” in community performances for homestay guests, showcasing their culture and their relationship with nature. 

The song’s lyricist, Harka Saud, who is known for his work in Nepali films, remarked, “Creating this song about nature was a different experience. It may not get as widely popular as movie songs, but you get a great sense of connection from nature and community from it.”